Michael:
You heard what happened in my home?
Frank:
Mike, I almost died myself. We was all so relieved.
Michael:
[shouting] In my home! In my bedroom, where my wife sleeps! Where my children come and play with their toys! In my home! I want you to help me take my revenge.
Frank:
Michael, anything. What can I do?
Michael:
Settle these troubles with the Rosato brothers.
Frank:
Mike, I don't understand! I don't— Look, I don't have your brain for big deals, but this is a street thing. That Hyman Roth in Miami, that — he's backing up those son-of-a-bitches.
Michael:
I know he is.
Frank:
Then why? Why do you ask me to lay down to them, Mike?
Michael:
It was Hyman Roth that tried to have me killed. I know it was him.
Frank:
Jesus Christ, Mike! Jesus Christ! Look, let's get them all. Let's hit them all, now while we got the muscle.
Michael:
My father taught me many things here. He taught me in this room. He taught me: keep your friends close but your enemies closer. Now if Hyman Roth sees that I interceded in this thing, in the Rosato Brothers' favor, he's going to think his relationship with me is still good. That's what I want him to think. I want him completely relaxed and confident in our friendship. Then I'll be able to find out who the traitor in my family was. Note: the bolded portion is ranked #58 in the American Film Institute's list of the top 100 movie quotations in American cinema. That portion has often been attributed to Sun Tzu and sometimes to Niccolò Machiavelli, but there are no published sources yet found which predate its use in this film. There is, however, an Italian proverb that follows closely: "Dagli amici mi guardi Iddio, che dai nemici mi guardo io!" – May God protect me from my friends, I protect myself from my enemies. Voltaire said, "God protect me from my friends, I'll take care of my enemies”.
